Family Portraits
by merrygloom
Summary: Blake's second date with Yang coincides with meeting the rest of Yang's family. She learns about the family that Yang grew up in and sees a face she never wanted to see again. Blake/Yang, Blake&Yang. College AU. Second installment to 'Nothing Like You' series.
Reading "Three Lies" before this is encouraged, but this fic is understandable without. You might just miss some context.

Additionally, some messages that Yang and Blake sent each other on scroll are shown. Originally I posted this on Ao3 and I inserted screenshots of fake iphone messages there. That isn't possible here, but I did what I could to transition it here. Still, you might miss a silly easter egg I put in while reading it on ffn. My Ao3 account should be linked on my profile if you wanna take a look.

* * *

Blake resists the urge the scream in frustration when her best dress gets stained by one of her dorm mates beer while returning to her room. She scrubs angrily at the stain, even though she knows she won't have enough time to get it out before leaving to meet Yang's family in twenty minutes. She has half a mind to turn the girl in to their floor supervisor for having alcohol in the building.

As it is, she pulls her dress off in a huff and decides to wash it later.

Instead she puts on her best abaya, but she isn't happy with it simply because it isn't what she'd been planning to wear. The abaya she pulls on is deep violet and has some lovely embroidery, but she had wanted to wear the other dress. Her hijab doesn't match this outfit now and she has to put on another one. It frustrates her - she wants Yang's family to like her and she has to look decent for that. She's certain she'll be judged already for other things, she doesn't want to be judged for being badly dressed.

Blake looks herself in the mirror and sighs. She looks good enough and she sits on her bed, nervously pulling out her scroll to make sure once more that she got the day and time right.

 **Yang:** k, I'll be there in like an hour

 **Yang:** my place isn't that far but I had some stuff to drop off first

 **Blake:** Okay, I'll be ready.

 **Blake:** Drive safe.

 **Yang: :** heart:

The time-stamp said they'd had the conversation an hour ago so Yang would be here any moment. Blake's foot jiggled as she waited; Yang would send a text when she was outside the building so she was stuck in her room until then. After a moment, Blake scrolled back up through her messages to look at their conversation from back when Yang had invited her for dinner with her family the evening after their first date.

 **Blake** : That's the site I got the tights from.

 **Yang** : nice thanks

 **Yang:** k so Ruby is a blabbermouth

 **Blake:** What?

 **Yang:** she told DAD about you and now he wants to meet you

 **Blake:** Oh.

 **Yang:** Would you be ok with dinner with my family? like This week

 **Blake:** Oh

 **Blake:** Sure that sounds fine.

 **Yang:** omgg your the bestt

 **Yang:** it is so embarrassing but Dad won't shut up about it

 **Blake:** Well I'm glad if I can help.

Blake sighs as she sets her scroll aside and lays back in her bed. Despite what she'd said in her texts with Yang, she is very nervous.

Meeting someone's parents was a big step in a relationship, wasn't it?

Adam had been her only serious relationship and she'd never met his parents. Of course her relationship wasn't the best for comparison. She'd never met any of the parents of the people she'd had casually dated afterward either, though most of those lasted more than one date.

Yang though, Yang was a serious relationship. And Blake liked her. A lot.

Now she is meeting Yang's family, just days after they'd agreed to be dating and she feels like a nervous wreck. What is Yang's family doesn't like her?

Her scroll pings with a notification and she gives it a cursory glance to see Yang's text announcing her arrival outside her dorms.

'Well here goes nothing,' she thinks as she head out into the hall and starts down the flights of stairs to the ground floor. She doubles back when she realizes she forgot the present she'd bought to thank Yang's family for having her over.

Blake frowns as she steps outside. She doesn't see Yang and it is drizzling rain which wouldn't make for a very fun ride to Yang's house if they were going to be on Yang's bike. A pack of shrieking students dash towards her, shielding their heads with their hands and shoving at each other to make it to the door first. She steps to the side to make room for them and glances down at her scroll to check and see if maybe she hadn't misread Yang's message when an idling car in front of door her eyes had missed previously honks. The passenger window cracks and she can see Yang waving at her.

Blake sighs in relief as she ducks in the rain that has gotten heavier since she first came outside and jogs the couple steps to Yang's silver car.

"Hey, thanks." Blake shivers as she slides into the passenger seat. It is a rather cold rain. She apologizes as her wet shoes squeak on the floor and she buckles herself in.

"It's fine, don't mind if you make the car wet. I'd offer you a towel, but I don't have any dry ones," Yang says. "Dad said it was going to rain so he let me take his car… Or forced me to, to be honest."

"Another rain check for the ride on your bike then?" Blake says with a wry smile as Yang starts driving. Yang hums in amusement, before her eyes catch the gift bag set in Blake's lap.

"What's that?"

"A gift, for your family," Blake answers, with an embarrassed shrug. After being invited for dinner with Yang's family, she'd worried endlessly about what to bring. Usually she'd just bring a dessert from her favorite coffee shop, but from their texts from the past week it seemed that Yang already had dinner as well as dessert planned. She'd considered nuts, flowers, coffee beans, tea leaves, even a fruit basket. Finally, Sun had helped her pick out a nice box of chocolates. No one hated chocolate he said and it wouldn't show up Yang's dessert. "It's nothing much."

"You didn't have to do that," says Yang, eyes flicking to one of her mirrors then to Blake. "It's my fault you're getting dragged into this – or maybe it's more Ruby's fault."

Feeling self-conscious, Blake shrugs and takes a look around the car. Yang's dad's car's upholstery is black vinyl and cracked with age. The back seat is strewn with piles of empty fast food bags, used napkins, a stack of books that Blake speculates was hastily moved from the front seat, a pile of crumpled receipts, dog leash, damp towel and umbrella, and other odds and ends that Blake can't quite make out.

"Sorry about the mess – like I said, it is dad's car," Yang says with a grimace when she notices Blake looking. "Can't complain or we'd be in the rain on my bike."

Blake shrugs, glancing out the window as they pass Patch Arboretum. "It's fine, I'm just glad to not be in the rain." It is raining harder now and Yang makes the windshield wipers swipe faster.

"Me too." Yang glances in her rear view mirror and turns left. "My place is about half an hour away, so you can put your scroll in and listen to music." Yang drives one-handed as she roots around behind her for a moment before pulling out her aux cord. Blake winces though.

"I don't have much music downloaded on my scroll, to be honest."

Yang shrugs and hands Blake her scroll. "You can put mine in if you want."

Blake obliges and, with a bit of a smirk, she sets the playlist to Yang's most played songs. She looks over them before setting them on with a laugh. "You weren't kidding about liking The Achieve Men."

"Shut up," Yang says with a laugh. "They're good. Shut up, stop laughing."

Blake shakes her head with a final chuckle and sets Yang's scroll down. The rain patters on the roof of the car and Yang turns on to the highway.

"You live with your… dad then?" Blake asks, stopping herself in time before she said parents.

Yang nods. "Yeah, Ruby does too. Qrow lives with us part-time too, or at least whenever he isn't out of town. It is a bit of a commute, especially for Ruby, but it works out best, living with dad." Yang breaths through her nose, noticeable because there is a pause between the next song. "I dunno how well dad would handle an empty house."

"Qrow's your uncle, right?" Blake asks, just to be sure.

"Yep," Yang confirms. "He works as something like a private investigator, but he leaves town often enough for reasons he doesn't bother explaining to Ruby or me."

Blake frowns as the words "Qrow" and "private investigator" niggle in the back of her head. She shakes it out of her mind. "What does your dad do?"

"He's a paramedic," Yang answers. "Today is his first day off after a forty-eight hour shift."

"Wow."

"Yeah, he gets some crazy hours." It is dark outside now, though Yang has long since turned on her headlights. Yang's mouth is a stiff line as she glances in her mirror, tongue clicking when a white van behind them follows closely behind them and Yang speeds up. "Stop kissing my ass, fucker."

Yang turns the music down when the van speeds right up with Yang, staying on her rear. Yang scowls. "Asshole."

Finally, after trying to maneuver away from the driver to no avail, Yang slows down so slow that the van speeds past them engine roaring and beeping at them in a fury. Yang rolls down her window despite the pouring rain just to give the driver the finger and curses loudly as the van speeds away, already bothering other drivers.

Yang is less tense when she returns to an acceptable speed and rolls the window back up. "Sorry about that."

Blake answers with a shrug, relaxing into her seat."That lady is being a reckless moron."

Yang turns the volume to the music back up, just in time for The Achieve Men's lead singer to being crooning another song. Yang sings along without missing a beat, giving Blake a corny smile and wink. Blake snorts, but looks away in embarrassment. It's a sappy love song and Yang's got a decent singing voice. Blake hasn't, not even in the shower and she'd been told that everyone sounded decent in the shower.

By the song's end, though, Blake is snickering. Yang hasn't gotten a single word wrong, even managing to sing two parts at the same time. This is far from Yang's first time singing along to this silly boy band.

"Oi, you keep laughing and I'll make fun of you when I get my hands on your musical tastes," Yang warns, laughing herself.

It takes Blake a moment to stop; she doesn't think any of her favorite bands are particularly embarrassing… That is until she remember that most of the music she has downloaded on her laptop has been put into playlists that remind her of her OTPs and that shuts Blake up fast. Blake does her best meek faces and blinks innocently at Yang.

"Ha, knew it – the music people listen to is always embarrassing." Yang's cheeks are flushed more than usual and Blake considers that perhaps Yang was more embarrassed about listening to the Achieve Men than she'd let on, or at least from Blake's teasing.

"I dunno, I just think it's really cute that you're that into them," Blake says after a moment. "I thought you just liked their faces."

"Well, I mean. There is that," Yang concedes. "But, if I just wanted cute faces to look at, I'd choose an all-girl band, right?" Blake shrugs, because – well, point taken.

Blake regrets crushing on Yang and agreeing to this date the next ten minutes of the drive to Yang's house, during which Yang tells her every single reason the Achieve Men are a very good, serious band that deserves musical recognition. Her regret dissipates the moment Yang turns to her, hands gesturing to illustrate her point, with eyes sparkling with animation and lips curved into a smile.

The rain has let up some, but still well above a drizzle as Yang turns onto her exit.

"We should be home in less than ten minutes now," Yang tells her, before turning to glance at Blake with a grimace. "Okay, word of warning before you meet my dad and uncle." Blake suppresses her own grimace; she's been worried about what Yang's family will think of her. Ruby hadn't seemed put off by Blake in their brief meeting, but they'd only met for a minute. "Dad's, like, super protective of me and Ruby. He's going to love you, I can promise you that, but he might be… overbearing.

"Overbearing might not the right word… He'll want to hog all of your attention," Yang continues after some thought for consideration. "He might even want to show you the photo albums. You will want to discourage that." Yang gives her a stern glance.

"I don't know," Blake says. Seeing pictures of Yang's childhood sounds like a more fun way of spending her time with her family, than the suspicious interrogation she'd feared having to face. "I might want to see these pictures."

"No," Yang says seriously "I say this for both of our benefits: you do not." Blake glances at Yang's profile, Yang's eyes focused on the road, but Blake can tell she means business.

"I'll take your advice into consideration then."

"Don't just take it into consideration, take it," Yang warns with finality. They've taken a couple turns since turning off the high way and they've reached a long and winding road, bracketed by half-bare trees. Autumn is rapidly approaching its end. Blake can't see any houses, but she sees mailboxes and driveways leading further into the trees. The only other car on the street with them, a black SUV, follows a good distance behind them. "As for my uncle… Well, you'll think he hates you. That's how he likes people to think they stand with him, but he won't bother you too much, the way dad is going to."

Blake shifts nervously at that; that had been her fear – having Yang's family not like her.

"Don't believe anything either of them say – Dad exaggerates Ruby's and my successes. Don't believe any of the complimentary things he says about me – he'll completely blow everything out of proportion. Qrow's the opposite, don't take any of his insults about me seriously. Even though Dad honestly believes everything he says about me, my uncle doesn't. He just likes to take the piss on me.

"Dad'll probably try and adopt you before the night is over. Just ignore him or get me to protect you."

Blake laughs at that – surely, Yang is exaggerating herself but Yang turns to her with a grim face. "I'm serious. They'll kill you," Yang pauses for dramatic effect. "With love."

"Well, now I'm looking forward to it," Blake says, even though she isn't. She just isn't dreading Yang's family's attention in the same way that she had been. Hopefully, though, she'll glean some embarrassing anecdotes about Yang to tease her with. That is her greatest hope for the evening.

"This is my place," Yang says pointing down a long, dirt driveway just ahead. Blake can't see the house through the trees, dark, and rain.

Yang stops the car just in front of the mailbox by the driveway she'd point to. "No one else ever bothers to grab the mail," Yang explains with a sigh, jarring her door to lean over and open the mailbox. The SUV drives around them and winks off into the distance. Yang takes the mail and riffles through it quickly before setting it aside and turns into the driveway, outlined by lights to guide them.

The driveway winds through the trees, just under a quarter mile until Blake can see a rustic, wooden house with an orange roof through the shield of trees, well-lit by exterior lights. Most of the fallen leaves have been raked into piles, but newly fallen foliage dot the grass. If Blake had to guess, there is a good acre of land in the front and sides of the house, enclosed by mostly-bare trees. Behind the house, however, is even more land that Blake can't manage to measure in the rain.

"My dad grew up here – and I think his mom did before him," Yang says, pulling out a remote to open the garage door. "This place has been in the family for a while."

"Looks lovely," Blake says honestly. "At least from what I can see in the rain." As the garage opens, Blake spots Yang's bike and another car already inside.

"So, I haven't quite finished making dinner," Yang says with a sigh as she pulls into the garage. "Unless my dad snatches you up, you should just come and watch me cook in the kitchen."

"That sounds fine."

Yang parks her car and they both climb out of their seats and Blake remembers to take her gift bag in hand. Suddenly, she worries if she shouldn't have gotten something else. Sun was wrong, not everyone loved chocolate – what if Yang's family didn't?

Yang lets Blake into the house first and Blake steps into what appears to be the laundry room. She ventures forward, to peek through the next doorway and into what appears to be the living room.

The living room is furnished with squashy mix-matched sofa and armchairs, set on a plush rug over wooden floors. The television is set to mute with subtitles playing and a blond man sits reading a book in an armchair.

"Oh," The man notices her and stands quickly after setting his book aside, approaches her in three long strides. "You must be Blake!"

He has a wide grin and takes her hand to shake before she can even properly extend her hand for him to take. His hands are warm and firm, shaking her hand enthusiastically and his smile is eager.

"I've heard so much about you!" He says, clasping his hands in front of him when he finally releases Blake's hand. Blake hears Yang join them from behind her.

"Dad, stop trying to scare her off."

"I'm not scaring her off!" Yang's dad insists. "Right, I'm not bothering you at all Blake?"

Yang sighs with an eye roll. "Dad, this is Blake."

"She's told me that already!" Blake darts her eyes between them. She hadn't actually been given much of a chance to introduce herself, he'd only made the correct assumption but Blake isn't going to point that out.

"…Blake, this is my dad."

"Call me Taiyang," he says, putting his hand out for another handshake. This time, Blake is prepared and manages to shake his hand back. "Better grip this time."

Blake feels her cheeks warm, but Taiyang only laughs as he starts tugging her to sit on the sofa. She sets her gift bag on the coffee table, unsure of how to hand it to him now.

"Sit, sit. Make yourself at home while Yang finishes dinner," Taiyang says after he's gotten her to sit. "We can get to know each other in the meantime."

"Dad, no," Yang says just a bit whiny. "Blake's going to go sit in the kitchen with me and watch me cook."

"No, no, it'll be hot and stuffy in there." Taiyang says as he sits back into the armchair he'd been in earlier, body turned to Blake.

"Dad." Yang's voice is a warning.

"You always get to hang around Blake," Taiyang answers firmly and apparently not going to budge. "This'll be my time to get to know her."

"You can do that at dinner," Yang points out peevishly.

"I already cleaned the rice like you asked, all you have to do is start it," Taiyang says, ignoring his daughter. "The broth is ready and on the stove. Everything else has been kept warm."

Yang stares hard at her father, but he isn't looking at her but at Blake. Finally Yang sighs and mouths an apology to Blake. She disappears, leaving Blake alone with Taiyang. Blake stares at him wide-eyed and uncertain. A few moments later, though, she can hear Yang call for her sister.

"Ruby, go make sure that dad doesn't completely maul Blake."

"Okay, on it!" Ruby calls back. Blake can hear the sound of distant running on floorboards getting louder until Ruby appears from the same hall Yang had just left through.

"Hey, Blake!" Ruby greets. Following closely at her heels is a corgi and Blake starts at the sight of him. He might be a small dog, but Blake's always been nervous around them no matter their size. Ruby flops into the armchair opposite of her father. She's wearing a strange hooded cape and a black skirt with crunchy red crinoline underneath. "This is Zwei!"

The dog's tail wags in recognition of his name, but otherwise remains close to Ruby. Blake still finds herself drawing away from the dog. Ruby seems to notice.

"Yang, can you call Zwei?" Ruby yells to her sister.

"Zwei, hier!" Yang calls back and Zwei immediately dashes back from where Ruby had just come from. "Wait why am I calling for him? I don't need the dog in the kitchen while I'm cooking – dammit Ruby!"

Ruby snickers but doesn't respond to her sister, turning to Blake with a shy smile instead.

"Hey, Blake," Ruby says again, softer this time. "I'm sorry about last time, I had somethings that I needed Yang to take of and… Well, it's my bad."

"It's fine," Blake assures her with a weak smile. While Ruby had been settling in, Taiyang had fished the remote control out of the cushions of his chair and shut the television off and he finally turns back Blake now.

"So! Blake - what class was it that you met my daughter in?" Taiyang asks.

"Introduction to Psychology," Blake answers readily. It would have been an easy class if their professor had ever lectured on the material. Most of his classes had been spent sharing anecdotes from his life. Most of the students hadn't taken notes on his stories until after their first exam and they had found that his exam was more than half questions about Professor Port's stories from lecture. He asked them about the must tedious details that even Blake was surprised to have gotten an A in his class.

"Fascinating subject, psychology," Taiyang says while Ruby fidgets and darts her eyes in between them both. "But you aren't a Signal student, are you? You go to Beacon, right?" Blake bobs her head, about to answer when Yang's voice cuts in.

"Goddammit Zwei! – Ruby, he keeps sitting where I need to be. Can someone put the dog outside?"

There is a stare down between father and daughter for a long moment before Taiyang smiles softly. "I'll let Zwei out then."

Ruby grins. "Thanks Baba."

Taiyang leaves the room and Blake and Ruby sit in awkward silence for a moment before Ruby asks, "So, wanna tour of the house?"

Blake shrugs. "Sure."

Ruby is an odd mixture of lively and cheerful but shy and anxious as well as she leads Blake up the stairs, saying she'll show her the downstairs last. The stairs open up into what Blake supposes is a game room with bean bag chairs, television, multiple gaming systems, and a table folded up that she suspects is for ping-pong. There are several windows, but covered in heavy curtains. The other side of the game room has a banister that overlooks a downstairs room.

Ruby waves down the left hall, saying the spare bathroom and her Uncle's room are down there but if Blake had to use the bathroom, she'd probably want to use the one downstairs or her and Yang's shared bathroom. Then Ruby leads her to the right, pointing out her father's bedroom door and then her's and Yang's. Along the walls are many framed photographs, most depicting Yang and Ruby at various ages but Taiyang and several others reappear in several pictures as well, including a girl about Yang and Ruby's age with white hair. Blake doesn't have much time to look at the photos before Ruby opens her own bedroom door, plastered in multiple posters, and invites Blake in.

Ruby's walls are decorated in fairy lights and the space below crammed full of shelves of books, movies, comic books, and action figures of cartoon characters that Blake doesn't know the names of, and walls chaotically tacked full of posters. Ruby's got two beds in her room, but one has a heap of laundry that Ruby pushes to the ground when Blake looks over to it.

"Don't tell Yang I did that," Ruby whispers, as though Yang will be able to hear her from downstairs. "I told her I was going to put away my clothes before you came over.

"Yang and I used to share the room, but when Yang moved back in she took over the second guest room," Ruby says opening a door and showing her the attached bathroom. "We knocked down the wall between her new room and our bathroom though, so we still share that." The bathroom counters are scattered with toiletries in baskets and one basket of blister packs and amber pill vials. Then Ruby opens the opposite door and lets her into Yang's bedroom, though Blake hesitates about invading Yang's privacy. Ruby doesn't seem concerned though.

Yang's bedroom is surprisingly sparse especially compared to Ruby's chaos, only decorated in a few Achieve Men posters and a cork board of Polaroids and notes above her dresser. Blake can tell it's her bedroom though, as she has a large vanity with makeup, perfumes, and jewelry, the last of which that Blake recognizes as Yang's. On Yang's dresser is a colorful gift bag with a sealed envelope set beside it.

"Girls?" Blake can hear Taiyang call from somewhere downstairs. She and Ruby back out of Yang's room and backtrack through Ruby's bedroom into the hall and start down the stairs.

"There you girls are!" he exclaims, looking a bit put out. He is half-way up the stairs himself. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Sorry dad," Ruby answers, sliding down the stair banister past her father and jumping off in a well-practiced motion at the foot of the stairs. "I just wanted to show Blake around the house. I still have the downstairs though."

Taiyang sighs but looks pleased for some reason. He and Blake walk back down the stairs to catch back up with Ruby while Ruby continues rushing on stocking-ed feet through the living room and down into the hall that Yang had first left through. Most of the house is hardwood flooring, it seems.

Blake blinks as she and Taiyang go down a short hall that opens into the foyer and another living room. Perhaps the first room she'd seen had actually been the family room. She can see the game room overlooking them from where she is in the foyer. In the foyer is a large, flat package leaning against the wall.

Ruby points to doors as they walk an open hall, calling out what's inside some of them without opening them while others Ruby opens the door for Blake to have a glance into. One door leads to the study and another a guestroom.

Through a large glass door leading to the deck, Blake can see the dog, dressed in what looked like rain poncho, barking and chasing after something in the trees – a squirrel most likely. There is an archway that Blake can't quite see into, but she can hear the sounds and smells of Yang making dinner.

"If you ever need to use the bathroom downstairs, it's right here," Ruby tells her while Taiyang watches his daughter with a satisfied expression as he rummages through one of the bookshelves. Even though Ruby opens the bathroom door for Blake to see, the lights aren't on and Blake cannot see inside it. "And Yang's making dinner in there," Ruby says pointing to the archway and Blake takes a step closer to peer inside. She can't see Yang, but she can see the stove with several lidded pots.

"Did you still want spaghetti instead, Rubes?" Yang asks when she senses them.

"Actually," Ruby responds with a quick glace at Blake, "I'll just have what the rest of you are having."

"Oh," Yang says with some surprise but Blake can hear the clang of some pots being put away.

Ruby leans closer to Blake, her back turned away from the archway. "I'm not allowed to use anything but the fridge in the kitchen," explains Ruby in a conspiratorial whisper. "Not even if I'm supervised."

Behind her, Yang surprises her sister by whacking her on the back of the head with a wooden spoon. Ruby squawks in indignation, rubbing the back of her head. "Don't lie to Blake," Yang says sternly. "You're allowed to do whatever you want in the kitchen. That's just your own rule."

"Well, someone has to enforce the rule and if no one else will do it, I will," Ruby whines, still rubbing the back of her head. "How many times do I have to burn half the kitchen down before we all learn that I just should be allowed near a stove? Or a microwave? Or even the rice cooker?"

"You only did that once, Ruby." Yang shakes her head fondly. "And mostly everything was salvageable."

"We had to completely remodel the kitchen!"

"You're exaggerating, it did not happen like that," Yang says with a roll of the eyes. "Doing okay Blake? Wanna escape into the kitchen with me?"

"I'm fine."

"'kay then," Yang says, backing away back into the kitchen as a timer ding-ed. "Anyway, thanks for vacuuming the living room Ruby. Did you remember to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer?"

"Duh, yeah." Ruby tells her sister as she returns to cooking. With wide eyes, though, Ruby turns back to Blake and mouths "oops!" Ruby raises one finger as she dashes back down the hall.

"She just went to go do it didn't she?" Yang laughs once Ruby was out of earshot.

"Um," says Blake.

"I believe I recognized Weiss's ringtone," Taiyang lies for his younger daughter easily and Yang snorts but remains in the kitchen, the sound of her knife cutting rhythmically. With a furtive glance in Yang's direction, Taiyang lowers his voice to ask, "Hey, want to see some photos from when Yang and Ruby were little? I've my favorite album right here." He waves the album for Blake to see.

Blake does want to see them, but she also figures she should heed Yang's advice except she isn't sure how to do so without being rude.

"Er, actually, I was interested in the photos in the hall upstairs? Can I take a closer look?" After all, Yang hadn't said anything against the photos in hall. Taiyang's face brightens as he leads her back upstairs.

The photos aren't in any order that Blake can see; a photo of Yang when she was a toddler is right to one of a fairly recent one of Yang and Ruby together, with a dark haired man. He's in several other photographs, he must be Yang's Uncle Qrow. His face looks familiar and not in a way that he looks like Yang. Blake is just leaning in to look at his face closer when Taiyang draws her attention away.

"They got their braces at the same time." He grins and Blake chuckles as she looks at the picture she indicates. Yang's smiling broadly, her cheek pressed against her sister's as they squeeze together to fit into the frame. Both their mouths are open wide to show off the new metal on their teeth.

"How old was Yang there?" Blake asks in interest.

"Yang was eleven when she first got her braces – Ruby was nine," he tells her. "Ruby was eleven when she got to take hers off, but Yang had hers in until she was sixteen." Taiyang gestures to another photo. Her mouth is shut and she looks grumpy though Ruby flashing the peace sign next to her doesn't seem bothered. While the wall suggested Yang hadn't ever had a gawky awkward phase, she had had a rebellious phase – if her dark clothes, black finger nail polish, split lip, and unwashed, tangled hair said anything.

Blake snorts in amusement; Yang might have been very pretty at sixteen but she can't wait to tease Yang over the raccoon eyes.

Boy is Blake relieved that she hasn't been in contact with her own family in years, otherwise Yang might have her own field day over the embarrassing trends she had followed as a child.

Her eyes fall on a photo with Yang's leg in a cast, propped up by crutches, standing in front of sunflowers with Ruby in Taiyang's arms. Yang's hair is separated into pigtails, as are most of the youngest pictures of Yang are. It appeared that Yang had always had blonde curls, though the wall of photos suggest that her hair is at its longest currently.

"How'd she break her leg there?" Blake asks.

Taiyang winces as he answers, "Swan knocked her down when I wasn't looking." He looks anguished over the memory so Blake doesn't press further. It does explain what Yang said about swan's hearts being filled with hate last week.

She looks over several photos of Yang and Ruby with the white-haired girl she'd spotted in other photos. In one the girls are all by an inflatable pool and popsicles in their hands, sticking out their tongues to show off blue, green, and bright red tongues. The white-haired girl is going cross-eyed as both Yang and Ruby's popsicles drip onto her.

"Yang looks quite like you," Blake says as she looks at another photo of Yang and Taiyang together.

Taiyang chuckles. "She looks more like my mother, actually – you'd see if I had one of her grandmother up right now. Though she has some of her own mom in her." He is quiet for a long moment. Blake wonders if he knows that she knows about Yang's birth mother. "She has Summer's sense of humor though. She and Ruby have all the best parts of her

"This is from when Ruby was first born, Yang was so excited to meet her new little sister," Taiyang says suddenly, pointing out one of the photos near the center of the wall. The red-haired woman Blake had spotted earlier has what must be Yang as a two-year old in her lap, carefully cradling her hands to help Yang hold her newborn sister. Yang's eyes sparkle, mystified and proud at her new younger sister. It is the same look Yang had had when she'd first introduced Blake to Ruby, twenty-one years later. Taiyang's finger comes to stroke the photo, precisely where the red-haired woman – who must be Summer, was smiling in fatigue at the camera. "This was their mother, my Summer."

"Oh," Blake says uncertainly as Taiyang stares wistfully at the picture. Perhaps this was what Yang had meant, about not letting him show her pictures. Ruby stomping up the stairs snaps him from his melancholy, however.

"Yang _knew_ I didn't do it, 'cause she must of switched it over when she got home," Ruby grumbles as she comes up behind them. "I folded them though so she probably wouldn't hold it against me.

"Oh no, don't show Blake the wall of shame!" Ruby exclaims at her dad when she realizes what Blake and Taiyang are looking at.

"Of _shame_?" Taiyang exclaims as though insulted, "This is my wall of pride!" He turns to Blake. "Look at my beautiful girls! I change the pictures out every month or so, just to show off my babies." He presses his face against the wall and his arms outstretched as if to embrace it.

"Dad, no," Ruby says, face mortified as she glances as Blake. "If you say it like that, Blake isn't going to know you're only kidding around and Yang'll _kill_ you if she knew you were being embarrassing in front of Blake."

"But I would never kid around about how much I love my daughters!" Taiyang tells Ruby, but when Ruby drags her hands down her face in exasperation Taiyang winks at Blake.

Blake grins back at him, schooling her face back into neutrality when Ruby turns back to look at Blake.

In an attempt to find something to say, Blake gasps as she suddenly remembers the chocolates. "I'm sorry, I just remembered, I brought something to thank you for hospitality and letting me stay for dinner." After patting down her abaya, despite knowing she couldn't possibly have kept it there, Blake says, "I'm sorry, I think… I think I left it on your coffee table down stairs."

"Oh, a present!" Ruby says clapping her hands and leading them back down to the living room. The bag is just where Blake left it, but now the dark haired man from the photographs is sitting in one of the armchairs with the television on. He must have let the dog back in, because Zwei lays on the floor by his feet. "Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squeals, diving onto her uncle's lap. "I didn't know you were home!"

"I've been home for awhile, squirt. Of course I wasn't going to miss meeting Yang's new… friend," he says eyes flicking up and straight at Blake who felt frozen to the spot. Her heart thundering in her chest, Blake forces her eyes away from him in the hopes that he would look away from her. She recognizes him.

She only hopes he didn't recognize her.

How had this happened? How had she ended up in Qrow Branwen's house, without even knowing it was his home? How had she ended up dating his niece?

"Hello," Blake greets as clearly as she can, coughing to clear her throat when her voice comes out as a rasp and introduces herself to him in the hopes that if she acts natural then maybe he won't recognize her. After all, it had been so long ago. The last time she'd seen him she hadn't even been wearing her hijab and he probably had so many other cases, how in the world would he remember her face above all others?

If all else failed, perhaps she could feign illness and ask Yang to take her home early - before dinner even.

She shook the thought from her head – that would be rude and Yang had clearly put a lot of work into this dinner. Then again, maybe breaking it off with Yang would be for the best, now that Blake knew that Yang was related to this man. Being in the same room as Qrow was forcing her to remember things best left forgotten.

"Is this the gift you brought?" Ruby asks her, nudging the bag Blake had brought and bringing Blake back to the reality that she had to deal with.

She nods her head, hoping her panic hadn't been too obvious upon seeing Qrow. "Yes, it's not much – just a token of appreciation, but I hope you enjoy it," Blake said with a queasy smile, sitting gently on an empty armchair as Ruby and Taiyang had taken the sofa while Blake had had her internal panic. Perhaps she could just bolt through the window and run the entire way home.

"Chocolate!" Ruby hoots extracting the box from the bag. "Thanks Blake."

Blake smiles back weakly. Taiyang and Ruby talking pass as a mumble through Blake though she manages to nod and answer their questions as needed. Qrow doesn't add much to the conversation, but Blake finds herself aware of his every move – from his breathing to every direction his eye's glance to to the direction the toe of his shoes point to.

He looks much the same as she last saw him, though his dark hair is streaked with more silver than the last time.

"Dinner is almost done!" Yang calls from the kitchen.

"Why don't we go sit at the table?" Taiyang suggests and Blake is shown the way to a round kitchen table while Ruby takes the time to carry to go away to eat his own dinner. Taiyang insists upon sitting beside Blake and Qrow sits on his other side. He is barely looking at Blake, maybe she really was only worried for nothing. Maybe this'll work out.

"Dad got lucky," Ruby tells Blake from her side. Blake hadn't heard the segue into that and she blinks as she snaps to attention. "Every Chinese man's dream: two gay disabled daughters."

Yang is dyslexic, Blake knew that – that was why Yang had gotten her to be her note-taker in class. Yang had also argued with Professor Port about some sweeping generalizations he'd made about bipolar disorder and after that particular class, Yang had confided in Blake that she was was bipolar II. She also knew Yang was gay. Blake hadn't been aware about Ruby though.

"I am," says Taiyang, with a proud smile "so very lucky to have two such smart, kind, beautiful, strong, hard-working daughters." He leans in conspiratorially to Blake. "They are any father's dream."

Taiyang beams at his daughter when Yang leans over the breakfast bar from the kitchen just to squawk at him, "Dad, don't be embarrassing!"

"Yeah Dad!" Ruby says, snickering. "Not in front of Blake, she'll think we're total losers!"

Blake fights a smile as Taiyang turns to Qrow with a frown. Yang turns back into the kitchen, shaking her head.

"Is complimenting my daughters embarrassing nowadays?" Taiyang's eyebrows draw together, distraught. The question is directed at Qrow.

Qrow snorts, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head. "There mere fact we exist is embarrassment enough for kids their age."

"Since when?" Taiyang demands with a gasp.

"Since forever, dumbass," Qrow tells him with a dry laugh. "God, Tai – don't you remember being their age?"

"Yes," Taiyang answers. "And I remember being happy when my parents were proud of me!"

Qrow drops one of his arms from behind his head to elbow Taiyang with a teasing jeer. "That's because you were a total nerd."

Taiyang looks affronted for a moment before turning into an exaggerated pout that looks remarkably like Yang's. "Don't embarrass me in front of Blake," Taiyang says, lips quirking. "She'll think I'm a loser."

Blake laughs at that, Ruby and Taiyang joining in soon after. Qrow rolls his eyes at them.

"Cat's already out of bag on that one, Tai."

Blake doesn't know if it's because its that Yang is the way she is because of her family or if its because this family is special to Blake specifically because it is Yang's family, but it feels comfortable and natural being with them. There is a pleasant warmth in her belly, in this home that Yang grew up in. Even if Blake knows this family must have had their troubles and tragedies, the honest affection between them all is obvious.

It reminds Blake of her own family, somewhat. She blinks the thought away and gives Qrow a final furtive look. If he isn't going to give her any problems at the moment, then Blake decides she isn't going to let him disrupt the rest of her evening.

After that, Yang starts bringing in dinner – plates and plates of dinner, which she begins setting on the center of the table, starting with a whole fish.

"Sorry, _someone_ was playing with our lazy Susan and broke it the other day," Yang says as she sets a large platter of green beans down by the fish. Ruby and Qrow shoot accusing looks at each other and Yang amends with, " _Two_ someones that is. So we'll have to pass plates around to each other." A plate of bok choy is placed beside the green beans. Taiyang leaps up to help Yang and soup, dumplings, several plates of meats and stir fried vegetables, and finally mounds of rices crowd the rest of the table along with their own plates and bowls.

Yang had said the dinner was going to be fairly casual over scroll, but the dinner in front of her see like a lot of trouble with all of the different things. Since leaving her family, Blake hasn't had any real home cooked meals she realizes suddenly. For her, home cooked during the passed couple of years meant frozen pizzas she had tossed in the oven. She hadn't had much time to learn to cook during her time with Adam and living in a dorm made it nearly impossible to try cooking for herself.

"Fork?" Yang asks her. "Or chopsticks?"

While Blake can use chopsticks, she hesitates. She doesn't think she is quite adept at using chopsticks as the rest at the table, though she does notice that Qrow has taken a fork for himself. Yang gives her both with a shrug when Blake wavers too long.

"Tea?" Taiyang offers.

"Yes, please. Thank you." Blake manages to answer. Taiyang pours himself and Blake tea while Yang and Ruby take orange juice.

When Qrow cracks open a beer for himself, Ruby gives her Uncle a dark look and leans over and hisses something about how they'd talked about this and he really shouldn't drink in front of -,

"It's fine," Yang says with a glance at Blake. She hopes that they aren't not drinking on account of her – though she supposes Yang can't, given that Blake is counting on her for a ride home.

With one deft move, Yang heaves her sister and her chair into the air and sets her to the side. Ruby doesn't react as Yang slides another chair in beside Blake's left and sits heavily, poking her tongue out at Ruby. Ruby raspberries back at her sister.

Now that Blake knew their relation, she could see some of Qrow's face in Yang's. Blake found the realization unsettling.

Taiyang gives her a very lovely toast that Blake feels very bad for being too nervous to listen closely to. She should have googled table etiquette beforehand, specifically Chinese etiquette. She used to know it all from dinners at the Wukong home, but that felt so long ago now. Blake has gotten so out of practice at being social with people she didn't know.

Blake watches carefully as the rest of Yang's family starts filling their dishes before starting herself. As Yang had said, they are being fairly casual about it all – Qrow even has his elbow on the table as leans over his plate to eat and everyone keeps bickering about having to pass their food over to each other.

"So. Blake, what are you majoring in?" Taiyang asks her while ladling some soup into his bowl and then some for everyone else. Blake can't quite make out what kind of soup it is, but it seems brothy.

"I'm majoring in literature," Blake answers. "And minoring in political science. After I finish my undergrad, I'll be going into library science."

"Oh," Ruby says with interest. "You want to be a librarian, then?"

"Yes, if everything goes to plan," Blake tells her. Ruby smiles brightly, silver eyes shining with sudden interest. She opens her mouth to speak when Qrow interrupts with a snap of his tongue.

"Aren't libraries kind of outdated? You can get books and everything else on scroll or computer now." Blake freezes as he talks – Adam had said the very same thing to dissuade her the first time she'd mentioned wanting to be a librarian. It was the reason she hadn't even enrolled in university after graduating high school. "You'll be out of the job in a couple years, with a useless degree."

"What the hell, don't be a dick," Yang snaps at her uncle with a scowl. She turns to Blake. "Sorry about him, he's just likes making an ass of himself."

"Mind your language at the table Yang. And you your manners, Qrow," Taiyang says with a heavy sigh, as though he's had the burden of fielding arguments in his family for a long time.

"Blake told me all about wanting to be a librarian in class, I think it sounds really cool." Yang gives Blake a nudge. "I think it really suits you too."

"Actually," Ruby cuts in, chewing on a piece of chicken thoughtfully. "About the whole outdated thing – I mean I wouldn't have been able to survive any of my degrees without being able to have the campus library and all the services there to help me. Libraries are the best. And I won't be trading my books in for ebooks anytime soon."

Qrow spears a slice of beef with his fork and doesn't answer his niece. Blake takes a deep breath and decides she isn't going to let Qrow bully her again. The first time might have been his job and maybe he had actually been in the right, but not this time.

"That is true. Though, libraries provide a lot more than just books and information – though that is important too because not everyone has access to those. But libraries also have computers, printers – even 3D printers, tutoring, as well as classes on how to use all of these technologies that are supposedly making books outdated. On that note, it is unfortunate, with the quick development of technologies, many older technologies are also becoming obsolete quicker than the stored information can be transferred and we are actually losing quite a bit of data and information because of it all being stored in our computers rather than paper," Blake says much more casually than she feels. She doesn't want to be be rude, after all. She wants to be invited back, if only for Yang's sake. "Honestly, I believe that anyone who truly thinks we don't need libraries anymore are the ones that need libraries most, in order to access all of the information that prove the contrary."

"Ooh," Ruby and Yang hoot as one. "Sick burn."

Just as Blake is about to add more, though, Qrow makes a dismissive noise.

"I guess it's better than this one's useless liberal arts degree in a goddamn community college," he says, jerking his fork in Yang's direction. Yang snaps her teeth shut and both Ruby and Taiyang have frozen with their food halfway to their mouths. Yang's eyes blaze silently at her uncle and the two have a tense stare down for a long moment while Ruby darts her eyes between her sister and uncle anxiously.

Taiyang breaths deeply and pinches the bridge of his nose before saying sharply, "Enough.

"We are all very, very proud of Yang for going back to college. Everyone at his table supports you and your choice, sweetheart," he says smiling warmly at Yang who smiles while grimacing at the same time back. She still looks pretty ticked off. Then Taiyang turns to Blake. "Blake, I apologize for my family's discourteous behavior. Please do not think you are any less welcome here and I hope you enjoy this lovely dinner my daughter made. I know she worked very hard on it – for all of us to enjoy." He casts another smile at Yang.

"It's okay," Blake says uncomfortably. It seems she has stumbled into a common family argument, as nothing Qrow had said seemed to be a surprise to Yang. If anything, Yang seems more upset that he'd said all of that in front of Blake.

"It isn't," Taiyang says. Then he turns to Ruby and like a switch, changes the subject. "Why couldn't Weiss make it to dinner tonight? You did invite her, right?"

"Oh!" Ruby says blinking in surprise as the conversation turns to her. "Um, I think she had work stuff."

"That's a shame," Taiyang says. "Blake, have you met our Weiss yet?"

"Not, uh, not formally no," Blake tells him. Weiss had stayed in the car the entire time when she'd given Ruby the ride to Blake's dorm. Her car windows had been tinted and Blake hadn't even been able to see her face.

There is a tense moment at the table before Ruby peeps out, "That's a shame, Weiss is pretty fun after you get to know her… Maybe the four of us should go out then? Oh, you could invite your friends too, Blake. We all gotta meet sometime right? If we're all going to be friends… and you guys are gonna, uh… date?" Yang glances at Blake and shrugs but gives her sister a weak smile. Blake nods silently herself.

Blake's only other friend apart from Yang (though it is quickly becoming abundantly clear that being Yang's friends means she'll eventually have to be friends with Ruby and Weiss as well) is Sun. She hasn't invited Sun out to do anything since they rekindled their friend, but he'd probably be delighted to meet Yang and her friends.

"Oh, we could go to that fry place, down by the bay!" Ruby keeps on. "It's got hotdogs and burgers and milkshakes, but mostly it's got french fries. All different kinds! It's really good."

"Sounds fun, Rubes," Yang finally tells her sister. "That sounds okay, Blake?"

"Yeah," Blake says weakly. "I'm sure Sun would love to come."

"Great, then it's a plan," Yang says. She hasn't so much as glanced in her uncle's direction, but everyone else has finally started eating again. "I'll tell Weiss about it and we'll all figure out the details later."

"Don't suppose you guys are going to invite your dear old pops then?" Taiyang asks, eyelashes fluttering for effect.

"No old people allowed," Ruby says through a mouthful of rice. Taiyang pokes his tongue at the side of his cheek but both of their mouths quirk into a smiles. Within moments, the table is just as noisy and rambunctious as it was. Yang and Qrow still seem irritated with each other but manage to be cordial if nothing else.

Despite the disruption, the food is the best that Blake has had in a long while and Yang assures her that she'd double checked everything to make sure it was all halal. Blake appreciates her thoughtfulness. She likes the stir fry with chicken in particular as well as the soup Taiyang made. Occasionally she catches Yang sneaking vegetables into Ruby's dish. Ruby seems to notice but eats what Yang puts in her bowl without complaint.

Taiyang and Ruby ask Blake questions about herself that she answers in between bites. Questions about Beacon and her classes and athletics that she did in high school. She doesn't get much time for her own questions – ones about Yang, but she is having fun.

When she drains the last of her tea, Taiyang refills it for her without her saying a word. She thanks him and compliments his tea and they talk about tea for a while. Then he turns to her and asks, "So what are your parents like? Yang hasn't mentioned meeting them yet."

Blake feels Qrow's eyes on her but she doesn't dare look back at him; she knows that he recognizes her and he knows she recognizes him – damn him. Taiyang looks up from his food when she doesn't answer immediately; he looks curious but not suspicious. He doesn't know. Yang and Ruby probably don't know either. No, this is just between her and their uncle.

"I haven't spoken to my parents since I graduated high school," Blake says lowly after a moment. "I don't think we'll be reconciling anytime soon, so I don't think I'll be introducing them to Yang right now." Blake manages a pinched smile and when she glances at Yang she finds her doing that concerned face again, the same as during their first date.

"Sorry, I didn't know about that, Blake," Yang says, reassuring hand on Blake's upper arm.

"I apologize if I've brought up something hard for you to talk about. But your parents have lost out on quite an amazing girl, I can tell you that just from meeting you tonight," Taiyang says with sincerity.

They've misunderstood; they think Blake's parents are the ones that rejected her when it was the other way around. They don't know that Blake could show up at her parent's front door any day and they would welcome her with open arms. Well, none of them knew except the private investigator that her parents hired to find and bring her back home of course. He knew and he was staring right at her with accusing eyes.

"It's fine. It doesn't really bother me anymore." Blake shrugs and glances at the window when she sees movement. Sometime during dinner, the rain had turned into a storm and thunder was rumbling. Taiyang catches the direction of her eye.

"I'm not sure I want you girls driving in this storm. Should I set up the guest room for you, Blake?" A crack of lightning punctuates his offer.

"Oh, a sleepover!" Ruby exclaims.

Blake shifts, uncertain of how to decline his offer without seeming rude. She has her Isha prayers to do and her homework and, well, honestly she doesn't want to sleep under the same roof as Qrow. Of course, if Yang is too uncomfortable driving in the storm she'd probably have to stay the night.

"Blake's got class tomorrow morning, dad," Yang tells her dad. It's a lie and Yang knows it; they'd had the dinner on this Wednesday specifically because Blake didn't have any evening classes on Wednesday or any morning ones the next.

Taiyang hums in disappointment but doesn't push.

"You have a point though, Ba," Yang says standing and collecting the leftovers and empty dishes. They'd all more or less been done. "Usually we don't have dessert right after dinner but we don't want to driving too late in the rain. So I'll go get dessert ready now."

Taiyang helps Yang and Ruby dashes away without a word. Despite Blake's offer to help, Taiyang insists she sits and waits and that leaves her alone at the table with Qrow. She can feels his eyes burn into her skin as he observes her, but he doesn't say anything. If nothing else, he doesn't seem as though he is going to tell Yang's family about their history together or even what she'd been up to the last time they'd seen each other.

"You said you have a fridge in your dorm, right?" Yang calls to her from he kitchen. Blake can hear food being scrapped into containers.

"Yes, a mini one. I had to rent it," Blake says with a frown. "Why?"

"Do you have a microwave?"

"My floor has a couple in the common room that everyone can use."

"'Kay, good."

Blake frowns when Yang doesn't explain her questions. Ruby comes back carrying the chocolates Blake brought. "Look, Yang, Blake brought chocolates! We can have some with dessert, right?"

Yang answers, "Sure, that's fine. I'm cutting the cake now."

Ruby grins and starts opening the chocolates. "Oh, these look good. Even tells you which are what kinds." She looks at the inside of the box before choosing a chocolate before glancing up and remembering her uncle and Blake. She pushes the box out for them with a sheepish grin and pops her chocolate in her mouth. "Mm, tastes good too. Better than the ones Weiss always gets."

Qrow leans over to take a chocolate after she says that, taking a chocolate without looking at what he got. Ruby winces.

"I got them at a local chocolatier. They make the chocolates themselves," Blake says, relieved that at least Ruby and Qrow, who nods appreciatively after eating his chocolate and takes another, seem to enjoy the chocolates.

"Don't tell Weiss these are better. I mean they are, but she always gets us these really fancy chocolates. I know she means well but I dunno how to tell her that all those lavender-infused or whatever chocolates are really gross." Ruby hums as she takes another herself. "You don't want any? You don't have to worry about eating your own gift."

"No, it's fine."

"Rather just have Yang's dessert?" Ruby says with a sudden grin. Blake flushes at her astute observation. "Well, if Yang ever gets here with that cake -,"

"I've got the cake right here," Yang says as she comes back with a tray, Taiyang following after her with fresh teacups. "I hope you've left chocolates for everyone else." She sets plates with slices of dark brown cake in front of Blake and Ruby while Taiyang takes his and Qrow's.

"My ten layer Chocolate Orange cake. I changed the recipe this time though, so hopefully it came out okay." Blake runs her fork over the thin layers of the cake as Yang takes back her seat beside Blake. Blake is ashamed that she is so surprised that the cake looks so good. "I thought about making a Chinese dessert, but my western baking is better."

"What did you do different this time, sweetheart?" Taiyang asks as he takes his first bite. The new tea he's brought back is some kind of Oolong and when Blake tastes the cake it pairs well.

"I used fresh vanilla bean instead of extract, for Blake," Yang answers. She takes a bite of cake and looks pleased.

"This is really good, Yang. I never imagined you were this good when you said you baked," Blake says as she savors another bite. The baklava they'd shared last time was nothing on Yang's cake. "You didn't bake it just now, did you?"

"Nah, I made it this morning," Yang says with a pleased grin. "Glad you like it."

"Yang's the best when it comes to baking! If she'd let me, I'd just eat her cookies and nothing else for the rest of my life." Ruby says.

"Fat chance of that ever happening."

"I still think you should have your own bakery, Yang – don't you think so Blake?"

Blake hesitates – after all, Yang might be a good baker but it didn't do Yang any good if she didn't have any interest in it. If Yang going to community college was an item of contention, she didn't want to bring up anything about her career prospects if she hadn't yet decided. "If that's what Yang wanted to do, I think she'd be successful – just from this cake."

"I'd get bored in a year," Yang says with a wince. "I need variety and excitement in my life."

"It'd be a waste of all your other talents, not that you aren't wasting them now," Qrow mutters as he eats his cake. The table makes a unanimous decision to disregard him.

"Thank you for the chocolates, Blake. These are lovely," Taiyang says, trying one. "Weiss sometimes brings us very nice chocolates, but..."

"I already told her that her's are better," Ruby says with a laugh when Taiyang hesitates too long. "Also told her not to tell Weiss."

They chat more idly than they had during dinner, everyone getting a bit drowsy from a combination of being full, the late hour, and the rain.

At half past ten they've all long since finished their cake when Yang declares that she has something for Blake that she needs to give her before she takes her home. She excuses them both from the table and reminds Qrow it's his turn to wash the dishes. He doesn't look pleased about it.

"Oh, Yang sweetheart – you've got another one of those packages in. Came in while you were baking this morning, actually. It's in the foyer – remember to take it up with you," Taiyang calls after them as they leave the room.

Yang stills for a long moment before turning her head to say to her father, "Right, thanks for tell me."

Despite Yang not really need the help to take the box upstairs, Blake takes one end to help her bring it up. It's rather light despite the cumbersome size.

"Do you know what it is?" Blake asks as they maneuver it up the stairs.

Yang shrugs, less spirited than she was before her father told her about the package. "Painting."

"Oh."

They are quiet the rest of the way to Yang's room, where Yang declares, "This one's mine."

"I know," Blake says with an embarrassed shrug. "Your sister showed me around."

Yang hums as she lets herself into her bedroom and flicks the lights on.

"Hold on," Yang says while taking over the box. "This'll just be a moment – you can go ahead and sit if you want. My bed's fine."

Blake sits nervously on Yang's bed – her comforter is a lovely patchwork quilt with matching pillowcases. She looks up and watches as Yang opens her apparently spacious walk-in closet and dumps the package on top of a stack of turned over paintings in one corner. Her closet is stuffed full of clothes and the closet floor is overflowing with junk.

Yang looks up and sees Blake look and she smiles sheepishly. "Don't tell Ruby it is a mess in here – if she knows I've got my own secret mess in here, she'll really let herself go and I'll never be able to keep up."

"Your secret is safe with me," Blake promises with a grin, thinking about the pile of clothes on Ruby's bedroom floor that she'd promised not to tell Yang about.

After Yang shuts the closet door after herself she seems back to her normal self.

"Now where did I leave it? I thought I left it on my dresser…," Yang says as she glances over her dresser. She turns and spots the gift bag on her vanity. "Ah! There it is."

Yang presents the bag to Blake with flourish. "A belated birthday and a I'm-sorry-I-stretched-out-your-tights present," she says earnestly.

"My birthday was over a month ago!" Blake says with embarrassment. "And I told you the tights were fine – I'd have taken them back as-is."

"Still," Yang says with a grin. "Gives me an excuse to get you something. Now look inside and see what I got you!"

Blake obliges with some embarrassment, opening the envelope and card first. The card simply reads, "Happy Belated Birthday & Sorry I Wrecked Your Tights," with Yang's signature surrounded by dozens of drawn hearts. She finds two pairs of tights and a scented candle inside the bag. One of the tights are a new pair of the one's Yang had borrowed.

"Got them from the site you showed me, I'm glad they shipped so fast," Yang says while rummaging through one of her dresser drawers. "I replaced the ones I ruined and I got us a matching pair see!" Yang holds up a pair of thigh highs from inside her drawer. Blake's have the shape of a black cat at the elastic cuffs and Yang's have a brown teddy-like bear. "Oh, how about we both wear them when we got out Rubes, Weiss, and your friends?"

Blake frowns and shrugs. "I mean, sure. But I'll be wearing them under a skirt. No one will even see them."

"But we'll know we match!"

"YANG!" Blake can hear Ruby moaning loudly as she comes down the hall and joins them in Yang's room. She belly-flops beside Blake onto Yang's bed. "Uncle Qrow's not scrubbing the dishes right _again_ and we'll have to do them all over."

Yang rolls her eyes. "He does that. Thinks if he does the dishes badly enough we'll stop asking him to do them. Too bad for him – I'd rather track down all the dishes he didn't clean right and do them over then let him out of chores."

"Why does your blankets always smell better than mine?" Ruby asks, voice muffled by the bedding.

"Because I don't eat or do weird things in my bed."

"I don't do weird things in my bed!" Ruby rolls over onto her back.

"The last time I washed your bedding, the sheets were all stuck together. With glue!"

"That wasn't weird, I was just fixing something and the glue just happened to spill," Ruby mumbles guiltily.

"And apparently you slept with an open glue bottle in your bed for a week. I rest my case."

"Ugh, whatever. You know you don't actually have to clean up after me. I'd manage." Ruby sits up. "Want me to go with you to drop Blake off?"

"Nah, it's fine. You've got finals coming up and you should sleep. We should head out now, though, if I wanna be back before midnight," Yang answers.

"M'kay," Ruby says with a yawn. "Night Yang, Blake. Nice seeing you again."

"Goodnight," Blake says. "Thank you for having me over."

Ruby grins and goes to her own room through the adjoined bathroom. Blake follows Yang out of her room and down the stairs. They pass back through the kitchen first and Yang gathers two plastic bags, full of food in Tupperware. Qrow is still doing the dishes, though Taiyang has joined him and seems to be scrapping any food of dishes that Qrow hadn't bothered to do before drying the dishes with a towel.

"Thank you for having me over, I had a lovely evening," Blake tells Taiyang. He smiles.

"Thank you for letting me bother you all night," he says. "I feel much better, knowing my girls are in good hands."

"I'm taking Blake home now then," Yang says. "I'll be home before midnight probably."

"I could drive, if you like," Taiyang says. "I know you're probably tired, you've been up for awhile sweetheart."

"I'm fine – you're the one that just got off a forty-eight hour shift," Yang says. She goes to her father just to give him a quick kiss on the check. "You get some sleep, Babby.

"I think I'll stay up just to make sure that you get home okay, but I will after that."

Yang shakes her head, nudges her uncle and tells him "Missed a spot there," pointing out a bit on the dish in his hand. Then both she and Blake step out of the kitchen and into the hall.

"Actually," Qrow says suddenly, shutting off the water. "I'd like a quick word with Blake."

Blake freezes, but when Yang turns around and looks like she is going to argue with her uncle Blake tells her, "It's fine. You get the car started and I'll catch up."

Yang frowns and glances between her uncle and Blake and then finally her eyes land on her father. He shrugs back at his daughter, just as confused.

"Fine, you remember the way to the garage right? Not going to get lost again are you?"

Blake rolls her eyes. Seems she'll never be forgiven for making one wrong turn on their last date. "Yes, I'm sure I'll be able to find my way."

Yang gives her uncle a final warning look and leaves them but not before telling her uncle not to be such a dick. Then Qrow leads her away and down into the study, which she hadn't seen the inside of before. It is nothing much, mostly a couple of desktop computers on desks and papers. The walls are lined with books and binders. He shuts the door after them.

"Well isn't this a coincidence," he says.

"It is," Blake agrees tightly.

"It better be," Qrow says. His manner isn't threatening, but more confrontational. Daring her, or perhaps testing her. "I don't believe in second chances, but I'm giving you one. But if you or your past endangers any of my family, I'll be telling them exactly who you worked with in the past. And you can be sure I'll be speaking with your mother tonight." When Blake's tongue snaps, he clarifies with, "I might not tell her where you are, but she deserves to know you are still alive. She and your father are still waiting for you to come home, you know – not that you're grateful enough to appreciate that."

"Fine," Blake says, jaws clenched.

They stare each other down another long moment before he finally snaps his tongue against his teeth and puts hand on the door's knob. Just before he opens the door he says, "You've been warned, Gambol."

She doesn't answer his insult, passes him and darts quickly out the door. As she power walks past the kitchen, Taiyang calls to her. "Have a good night, Blake."

"You too," she says back to him without stopping. She easily slips out through the laundry room and out to the garage where Yang's waiting for her with the started car. The garage door is already open and the rain is falling even harder though the thunder has mostly faded. Blake climbs in and Yang frowns as she looks her over.

"Do I need to kill him?" Yang asks with an even tone.

"No," Blake answers after a moment, sliding her seat belt over her chest and clicking it in. "It was nothing."

Yang doesn't seem to believe her but says, "If you say so."

Yang pulls out and the rain instantly begins a loud racket over the roof of the car.

"Shit," Yang says as she backs up. The exterior lights have all been shut off – but moments later they turn right on. "Thank you, Baba," Yang says with a wide smile.

Blake shuts her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, willing herself to forget her conversation with Qrow. When she opens them, they've pulled out onto the road and Yang is glancing at her curiously.

"You okay? You sure he wasn't a dick? Or was my family that bad?"

"No, it's not your uncle," Blake says. And maybe that is just a little true, because she can hardly blame him for doubting her intentions with Yang. Most of the fault lies with her own past actions, Adam be damned. "And your family was great, really. I had fun. Dinner was great. Rain just makes me drowsy."

Yang snorts and accepts her answer, turning her eyes back to the road. They roads are mostly empty, except for a single black car that is behind them – at a respectable distance. Yang tells her the drive might be a little longer this time because she won't be taking the highway.

Blake hums and tells her it's fine.

It wasn't a complete lie that the rain made her drowsy. Despite all the anxiety ridden moments, her eyelids keep trying to pull shut. Yang hasn't turned the music on and this time the only sound is the rain and the occasional word they exchange. She feels comfortable, alone in this car with just Yang and the rain for company.

"Ruby really liked you, you know. Dad did too, but Ruby sometimes has a hard time getting comfortable with people. She usually has a hard time when we invite new people to the house, but she really liked you, she doesn't even have to tell me she does – I can tell," Yang says after a while. "I'm glad, because I really like you too."

Blake smiles softly. "Ruby is sweet. I like her too." Blake blinks as she makes out Patch Arboretum outside. She hadn't realized they'd already made it back to her dorm. She wonders if maybe she hadn't dozed without noticing.

"You nearly forgot the present I got you, you know," Yang says.

"Oh," Blake says, glancing behind her. The wet towel is gone and some other stuff have been rearranged to make room for the gift bag and the plastic bags of food. "Sorry I didn't mean to forget… Is that food supposed to be for me?"

"Yes," Yang says, pausing as she breaks into a yawn. "Some of it is leftovers from what I made for dinner, but none of it was on the table so don't worry about that. Most of it is what my dad made earlier, though. It should all do well with a quick zap in the microwave."

"I, no, that would have been fine… But you didn't have to do that," Blake says softly. They're pulling down her dorm's street.

Yang laughs. "I mean, I didn't need to but we've always got more leftovers than we can eat. We are always pawning food off on friends. Besides, I know you probably don't have a lot of opportunities for decent food, living in a dorm.

"That's true," Blake says with a laugh. "I haven't had a home-cooked food in a long time. It was great. Thanks again, Yang."

The car stops, but Blake doesn't move to get out right away. Suddenly she wants to lean over and kiss Yang. Yang's looking at her in curiosity. This is their second date, isn't it? Would it be all that wrong to kiss her now?

"Too tired to make it back to your room, Blake?" Yang asks with a grin. "Need me to carry you up? I could tuck you into bed and everything."

"What? No," Blake says. Her checks flush and she reaches into the backseat to get all the things Yang gave her. She feels a bit embarrassed, taking home more things than what she brought with her.

"Just dazed by my dazzlingly-good looks?" Yang reaches to help her collect her things with a breath-y laugh.

' _Yes_ ,' Blake thinks. It'd be wrong to kiss Yang now though, not when she'd considered breaking up with her not even three hours before because of Yang's uncle.

"Just tired, but I can manage getting to my room at least," Blake says. "Will you be able to make it back home alright?"

"Yeah, I'm getting my second-wind already."

"If you're sure."

"I'll be fine. I'll even send you a text to tell you I got home alright if you want."

"Do."

"Then I will." Yang kisses her forehead and it feels more intimate than when she'd thought about kissing Yang's mouth a moment before. "Goodnight Blake."

"Goodnight Yang." Blake presses a light kiss to Yang's check and flees out the car before Yang can offer her an umbrella. She turns after making it under the shelter just in front of her dorms. She waves goodbye to Yang and goes back inside without watching Yang leave.

She's a bit damp from her few moments in the rain, but not too bad. Not enough that she'll need to towel herself off. When she she gets to her dorm she finds a letter, telling her she'll be getting a new roommate soon.

She reads about her new roommate, Emerald Sustrai, as she puts the food in the fridge, except for a container with chocolate chip cookies. She smiles and sets those by her desk. Maybe she'll have cookies for breakfast.

Her new roommate doesn't sound half bad she decides as she sets the letter aside to reread in the morning when she isn't so sleepy. Blake washes up quickly and performs her prayers, ready to fall into bed. Thoughts of Yang make her giddy, despite everything. She sleeps right after she gets Yang's text that she's made it home.

* * *

Next part will be Team RWBY's first time all together with Weiss finally making her intro. And boy does she have a lot to say lol. But I'm committing myself to finished 'If the moon should crumble' before I write it.

Feel free to ask any questions; some things are planned to be answered in later parts but some are probably my bad haha...


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